Overview

• Thorsten Frei, a senior CDU politician, has called for linking refugees' permanent residency in Germany to a minimum income threshold.
• Frei suggested that refugees must earn enough to ensure their pensions exceed basic welfare levels, emphasizing self-sufficiency as a key criterion.
• He expressed concerns that many Syrian refugees in Germany work low-paying jobs, lack formal education, and cannot adequately support families or secure retirement funds.
• Frei also stated that refugees should leave Germany when crises in their home countries subside, warning that prolonged stays could reduce public support for future asylum cases.
• Over 300,000 Syrians in Germany currently hold temporary protection due to the civil war, but Frei acknowledged that organizing returns to Syria would be a significant challenge.